The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation puts its support behind Congress' largest bill for Melanoma.

Profile of Jeffrey Epstein

Online PR News – 20-March-2014 – New York, NY – One of Harvard’s biggest investors, Jeffrey Epstein, and founder of Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, has heralded congress' largest funding bill for melanoma research. The appropriations bill was for the Department of Defense’s Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) in the amount of $25 million, and is devoted to research for eleven types of cancer, including melanoma that effect the military specifically.

The PRCRP has supported cancer research for the benefit of military families for years, but 2014 represents the largest allocation of funding.

“Military families are uniquely affected by melanoma.”

Jeffrey Epstein’s foundation, the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, supports innovative science research around the world including numerous Nobel Laureates. It is also an avid supporter of the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA,) which was instrumental in securing melanoma’s inclusion in the PRCRP.

"Military families are uniquely affected by melanoma," Jeffrey Epstein commented. "It’s a phenomenon that can’t be ignored and it reveals clues about preventing the disease from occurring."

Indeed, in 2011, extensive research from the PRCRP showed that melanoma rates were significantly higher among military men 45 years or older versus the general population of the same age. Melanoma rates increased from 1990–1994 to 2000–2004 for all groups, with the most rapid increase among younger men in the military (36% vs. 7% in the general population). Melanoma incidence rates also varied by branch of military service; rates were highest in the air force.

Among women however, the reverse was true: melanoma rates increased non-significantly between 1990–1994 and 2000–2004 by 22% in the military and significantly in the general population by 36%. And, there were very few melanoma cases among women aged 45 to 59 years in the military.

"There are significant differences between military and non-military personnel," Jeffrey Epstein continued, "but there’s also a significant disparity in melanoma rates between military men and women that doesn’t exist in the general population."

In addition to founding the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Jeffrey Epstein is a former board member of the Mind, Brain and Behavior Committee at Harvard, a former board member of Rockefeller University and an active participant in the Santa Fe Institute.